Screening for feigning in a civil forensic setting.
This study compared the effectiveness of the Structured Inventory of Malingered Symptoms (SIMS; Widows & Smith, 2005) and the Miller Forensic Assessment of Symptoms Test (M-FAST; Miller, 2001) at screening for feigned psychiatric and neurocognitive symptoms in 308 individuals undergoing neuropsychiatric evaluation for workers' compensation or personal injury claims. Evaluees were assigned to probable feigning or honest groups based on results from well-validated, independent procedures. Both tests showed statistically significant discrimination between probable feigning and honest groups. Additionally, both the M-FAST and SIMS had high sensitivity and negative predictive power when discriminating probable psychiatric feigning versus honest groups, suggesting effectiveness in screening for this condition. However, neither of the procedures was as effective when applied to probable neurocognitive feigners versus honest groups, suggesting caution in their use for this purpose.
Alwes
Yvonne R
YR
University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-0044, USA.
Clark
Jessica A
JA
Berry
David T R
DT
Granacher
Robert P
RP
D000328:Adult; D008192:Deception; D005260:Female; D005555:Forensic Psychiatry; D006801:Humans; D008950:MMPI; D008297:Male; D008306:Malingering / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D008403:Mass Screening; D008875:Middle Aged; D011581:Psychological Tests; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity